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cracked nipples: 7 months!!!

hi ladies...

i am feeling very despondent...i really thought we had gotten over the beginners stumbling blocks re breastfeeding at 3 months... but i guess not?!

my lo is 7 months, drinks and eats well and is growing well. he has recently started clamping down on my nipple at the end of a nursing session and pulls himself off...my poor nipple stuck inbetween his gums *ouch*

initially i was tolerating the pain but i am pretty sure this behavior has led to the development of cracked nipples, yet again! any suggestions on how to kill this habit! latching and nursing has become unpleasant...

or do you think my cracks are related to something else? maybe poor position?

Re: cracked nipples: 7 months!!!

This sounds like biting, just without teeth. Here's how to deal with it:
1. Try to anticipate the bite- most bites occur at the end of a feeding when baby is no longer feeding actively and is just messing around. If you see that your baby is done, try to remove him from the breast before he bites.
2. If baby bites, say "Ouch, hurts mama!" Then put the baby down and walk away for several seconds, or longer. This way baby learns that chomping on mama leads to the end of nursing time and cuddle time, and results in baby having to sit all by himself for a bit.

Re: cracked nipples: 7 months!!!

biting? really? And my husband asked if it couldn't possibly be that but i had pictured a rather different scenario....thanks goodness my lo doesn't have teeth yet!

Will limiting his nursing time affect him in any way? i hate the thought of ending a session especially if he still maybe wants to comfort suck...plus longer nursing sessions at least give me a bit of a time out. But i am definitely going to try especially if it Will help ease the pain i am experiencing.

Approximately how long Will it take before he realizes this habit is a no no?

Re: cracked nipples: 7 months!!!

My oldest clamped as he fell asleep for a time. Even without the pull off it was very painful. Yeeeowch. Since it was obviously some kind of reflex and involuntary, I had to watch really carefully and quickly do the 'pinky in the corner of baby's mouth and twist like opening a paint can with a screwdriver' move to unlatch baby just before he clamped, cause once he was on there he had the jaw strength of a pit bull. If he fussed, I relatched and let him go again....and watched again!

For "on purpose' biting you need not neccesarily "end the session." As mommal suggests, it need only be for a pause of a minute or two. I suggest,
take time enough for baby to get the message (which is going to be short) and for you to take a few calming breaths and regroup. In my experience, it is hurtful physically and emotionally when baby bites. Intellectually we know baby is not trying to hurt, but it does hurt!
Every baby is different for how long it will take for them to stop. But this is usually a temporary stage.

Re: cracked nipples: 7 months!!!

You can go back and nurse him again if he's still hungry. You're aiming to give baby a temporary time out, not a "no food for you" punishment.

How long it takes to get the message across varies a lot. Some babies need just a few reminders, others take weeks and weeks to make the connection. But it's definitely something to work on now, before baby has teeth!

Re: cracked nipples: 7 months!!!

Good luck! I used the take baby off after a bite method when mine started biting (with two teeth, ouch!), because she didn't have a predictable "sign" biting was coming, and I never wanted to take her off pre-emptively. In our case, calmly taking baby off immediately after a bite resulted in the behavior stopping in about a day and a half, but all babies are different.